Bread and Fire
by Fenmir
Summary: Bread. Fire. Two broken, jagged, scared halves; one imperfect whole.


I'm not Suzanne Collins. I will never be as awesome as Suzanne Collins. Everything in this story belongs to Suzanne Collins. So, with that said...

* * *

Bread.

It is the first thing she thinks of when she thinks of him. The way he always smells of fresh-baked bread, mixed with whatever he has been baking that day. When she is deeply upset, the smell of bread baking can calm her down, because it reminds her of him. It's a warm, comforting, solid scent, just like Peeta. The scent feels like his embrace to her. In a strange way, it's healed her.

It has been three years since the revolution ended; three years for her to catch up all she's missed with him, three years for her to learn what she almost lost and how lucky she is to have a second chance, three years for them to learn to trust each other again. Time has been kind to her. The worry lines that used to crease her forehead have faded. She will never truly be healed, but time has allowed her to grow back together with Peeta, and to heal somewhat. Since her father died, she has never been whole, and she has come close to losing her grip on things. But she has salvaged what she could of her life and tried to start over. She thinks the key might be to just keep living. The busier you are, the less time you have to think about things. She hunts and she writes in the book. Other than Peeta, it's all she has to hold on to. But it's enough to keep her sane, enough to keep her content.

He kisses her and the now, somewhat, familiar hunger stirs inside her at the feel of his lips, the feel of his arm around her. Without knowing it, she's missed this; being with him. If she's learned anything about their relationship from this ordeal, it's that you really don't know what you have till it's gone. She never truly appreciated Peeta until she thought she'd lost him. And now that they have miraculously been given a second chance she vows she will never make that mistake again.

* * *

Fire.

Ironically, it's the first thing he thinks of when he thinks of her. He'd never had any doubts that, without her, life was nothing. Even when she slipped through his fingers, at the end of their first games, even during the moment his heart broke because of what she did, he had never believed he could get over her and move onto someone else. This wasn't the kind of love that you got over and moved on from. But he'd only appreciated and loved the Katniss he knew in the games, and the Katniss he'd created in his mind. He knew very little about the real Katniss. It wasn't until he was hijacked that things changed. Without him even realizing it the Capitol had ripped the most precious thing in his life from him. He'd tried to kill her. But the hijacking wasn't enough to changes things on its own. It wasn't until they were in the Capitol, running from the Mutts, and she kissed him that everything fell into place for him. He didn't realize it at the time, but that was a defining moment in they're relationship. So through his hijacking his eyes have been opened to her flaws—and he loves her more because of them. So, in a strange way, his love for her has been strengthened by his hijacking. Because he finally sees her as she truly is, her flaws are exposed just as her virtues are. And he loves her more because he truly knows who she is now. It is an unexpected blessing in the curse that scars him to this day.

He thinks of fire for many reasons. When he kisses her, he feels fire spreading through him. Her fire consumed him just as easily as it did the nation. Whether or not Cinna knew it, fire was a very apt symbol for her. He thinks of fire because of how he felt when he saw her in her interview dress, during their first games. Just as she associates him with bread, she is linked in his mind to fire.

Like Katniss, time has also been kind to him. His face is creased with laugh lines now, instead of worry lines. It takes a lot to bring him down; because he's living the life he's always wanted. He wishes there had been another way to get it, but he doesn't see much point in living in the past. You have to keep moving towards the future, or the past will swallow you up. He has learned that there comes a time in your life when you have to stop running from your past, and learn to face it. If you don't make your peace with the past, you can't move forward into the future. Peeta has made his peace with the past, to the extent that he can.

* * *

Two broken, jagged, scared halves; one imperfect whole. It not much, but it's all they have.

* * *

Loved it? Hated it? Review? :)


End file.
